Pat Martino Trio (Post Tower | 7.5.2015) The legendary “musician’s musician” Pat Martino will open the Jazzfest 2015. The American guitarist, who had to learn playing the guitar anew after brain surgery in the 1980s, for the second time in his life astounds both musical laymen and experts “with his perfect technique, sense of sound and an incomparable differentiation” (Jazz Dictionary). He is seen as the gentleman on the guitar, a sophisticated individualist,... read more »
Ulita Knaus (Post Tower | 7.5.2015) The title of German songwriter and jazz singer Ulita Knaus’s now sixth album is ‚The Moon on My Doorstep‘. Her own compositions and the German and English language jazz interpretations of works by Pink Floyd, Tom Waits or Peter Fox strike a chord with her strong voice and pure, warm sound. More personal than ever Ulita Knaus sings about life and love, of big and small misfortunes and about the power of saying no. Ulita ... read more »
Anke Helfrich Trio (LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn | 8.5.2015) Anke Helfrich plays in the first league of the European jazz piano, since hardly anyone combines musical finesse and sweeping joy of making music in such a colour-intensive and imaginative way. Currently the jazz pianist is working on a new album, which she is going to present at the Jazzfest. Over the past few years, Helfrich has intensively been studying the history of jazz, on the basis of which she is now... read more »
Norbert Gottschalk Quintett (LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn | 8.5.2015) Recently magazine STERN wrote about Norbert Gottschalk: „A voice like liquid honey. Pure gold.” From his new album ‘Stars’, which Gottschalk will be introducing at the Jazzfest, he is to present selected song material in a modern jazz outfit. The Beatles’ ‘Nowhere Man’ amazes with a scat insertion, and instrumental pieces like Charlie Hadens’ ‘First Song’ become songs in the actual sense of the word... read more »
Lizz Wright (Universität Bonn, Aula | 9.5.2015) “A good song is like a big house: all sorts of people can feel at home in it. Great songs offer me the opportunity to go on a journey with the heart and soul.” In 2003, Lizz Wright first impressed not only the jazz world with her soulful compositions and interpretations placed somewhere between jazz, gospel, blues, soul and pop. In the meanwhile, her fourth album is on the market and with this, the daughter ... read more »
Stefan Schultze – Large Ensemble (Universität Bonn, Aula | 9.5.2015) Composer and pianist Stefan Schultze and his Large Ensemble present experimental big band. From a musical point of view, Schultze, who won the WDR Jazz Prize in 2010, is difficult to grasp; the artist from Cologne tries to compose and play without stereotyped thinking between traditional hints and whimsical advances. For him the joy and the power of making music with a large ensemble are at the forefront, as... read more »
David Friedman & Michael Schiefel (Volksbank-Haus | 10.5.2015) Michael Schiefel, who was born in Münster, is an exceptionally gifted solo performer. In the 1990s, Schiefel began vocal experiments with the expressive options of loop machines and other electronics. At the Jazzfest Bonn, he will perform together with the vibraphonist David Friedman: The Berlin jazz legend from the US is more than only a virtuoso on the percussion instrument similar to a clavier. Every sound of Fr... read more »
Michael Heupel (Volksbank-Haus | 10.5.2015) He is an acrobat on the flute: Michael Heupel from Bonn blasts the tonal frame of everything that has been subsumed under ‘flute’ so far. Among others, Heupel fascinates with his sub counter bass flute, which optically surprises with its pipe length of 3.5 metres, and with which he produces amazing sounds and effects. He reproduces an awe-inspiring spectrum with other flutes as well, up to the piccolo flute. Heupel... read more »
Peter Evans – Zebulon Trio (Brotfabrik | 11.5.2015) Peter Evans is among the most innovative forces of the New York jazz scene and has found himself two utterly virtuoso partners for his new project: John Hébert on the bass and Kassa Overall on the drums both fascinate with their progressive play and their unacademic approach. The three musicians understand themselves as equal partners; for them this is about the exact opposite of the traditional ‘solo plus rhythm secti... read more »
Hanno Busch Trio (Brotfabrik | 11.5.2015) ‘Absent’ is the title of the Hanno Busch Trio’s debut album: ‘absent’ understood as a pleasant feeling, momentarily not being available for the rest of the world. It is exactly this feeling that Hanno Busch wants to convey to his audience, “that they completely lose themselves in the music for the time of the concert and that they thus are ‘absent’ to everything else out there.” Indeed, the album is dominant from a mus... read more »
Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio (Haus der Geschichte | 12.5.2015) The musical scope of the jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel inspires awe; it goes from jazz pop via world music up to experiments with ecclesiastical choir music. In his newest project, he dedicates himself to chamber jazz in the guitar trio format. Two strong partners and companions will be accompanying him: Larry Grenadier on the bass and Jorge Rossy on drums. The basis of their joint work is pieces by Muthsp... read more »
Efrat Alony Trio (Haus der Geschichte | 12.5.2015) To singer, songwriter, composer and bandleader Efrat Alony, all categories are by far too small: Alony set herself apart from other artists by crossing boundaries and walking the tightrope. “I love challenges” she declares, “to learn from them and to reach my limits. Because limits are not rigid and solid, but moveable.” With her new project, she fathoms the deepest depths of her voice; everything in the music... read more »
Marilyn Mazur’s Celestial Circle (Bundeskunsthalle | 13.5.2015) Marilyn Mazur became internationally known in the 1980s at the side of Miles Davis. Since 2008, the Danish percussionist has created a very varied chamber musical tonal fabric with ‘Celestial Circle’. She notes about the foundation of the quartet: “I wanted to create music with air, transparency and spirituality. My aim was to paint the music.” A texture developed, in which she combines the effortlessness of danc... read more »
Frederik Köster – Die Verwandlung (Bundeskunsthalle | 13.5.2015) New band, new sound, new philosophy: for his new album, trumpeter Frederik Köster indeed seems to have ‘transformed’ himself to a degree. Kafka’s novel named ‘The Metamorphosis’ or ‘The Transformation’ has inspired the musician from Cologne for this project. However, the music also contains literary references to Allen Ginsberg and Haruki Murakami. Even more so, this realignment of Köster seems to be of a structu... read more »
Enrico Rava meets Gianluca Petrella and Giovanni Guidi (Beethoven-Haus Bonn | 14.5.2015) Miles Davis and Chet Baker were the musical idols of Enrico Rava. Today the Italian trumpeter is among their worthy successors. “What counts for me is the sound, the sense for tunes, the beauty of musical topics,” says Rava. Indeed, the now 71-year-old musician is not easy to define in terms of style: his repertoire includes fiery and lyrical lines, but also romantic sentiments – he mostly achieves this simpl... read more »
Julia Kadel Trio (Beethoven-Haus Bonn | 14.5.2015) A catchy, very mature trio sound: their debut album ‘Im Vertrauen’ (Confidentially) turned the Julia Kadel Trio into an insider’s tip in the German jazz scene. The three young German musicians Kadel, Enkelmann and Roth took the liberty to interpret the rich pool of traditions from classical music, via jazz, to pop in their own way and to re-interpret it with abstractive composition skill, sweeping naturalism a... read more »
Franco Ambrosetti Sextet featuring Terri Lyne Carrington, Greg Osby, Buster Williams (Bundeskunsthalle | 15.5.2015) For his newest project, the Swiss trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti has surrounded himself with a whole group of great jazz virtuosos, including the legendary musicians Greg Osby (alto saxophone), Buster Williams (bass) and Terry Lyne Carrington (drums). The title of their jointly recorded CD is ‘After the Rain’. The pieces that the sextet is going to present here are mostly compositions by the Swiss Ambrosetti, but th... read more »
WDR Big Band & Erik Truffaz (Bundeskunsthalle | 15.5.2015) The profile of the WDR Big Band, a ‘cultural orchestra’, as a band specialising in premières is defined through the constant development and performance of new programmes within a stylistically broad range. At the same time, the internationally cast big band has a special relationship to European traditions, especially to jazz ‘made in Europe’. Now the band goes on tour with French trumpeter Erik Truffaz. ‘Face to F... read more »
Nigel Kennedy’s Hendrix Project (Telekom Forum | 16.5.2015) In May 2015, the punk among classical violinists gives a guest performance at the Jazzfest Bonn with a world première: Nigel Kennedy will present his new Jimi Hendrix project together with a small band, consisting of two guitarists, a bass player and two percussionists. Already since the 1990s, the exceptional violinist has been dedicating himself to the music of Jimi Hendrix. Now he has fundamentally revised the pr... read more »
Rebecca Treschers Ensemble 11 (Telekom Forum | 16.5.2015) After her debut album ‘Sud’ and the ‘Jazzthing Next-Generation’ album ‘Nucleus’, with her current ‘Ensemble 11’, Rebecca Trescher is unmistakably showing that she is among the most interesting voices in young jazz. Her elaborate compositions move between musical adventures and elegant melodious sounds; they cleverly make use of the personal strengths of the musicians involved. The symphonic jazz poems of ‘Ensemble 1... read more »
